Kosovan Independence Challenged

The long-anticipated announcement that Kosovo is seceding from Serbia came on Sunday. The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy were all quick to recognize the new state.

But endorsement has not been universal. Russia—an ally of Serbia—condemned the move, preventing a unified response by the United Nations Security Council.

In a conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Kosovo poses a threat to international stability.

Although European Union foreign ministers agreed that Kosovo’s declaration of independence does not defy international legal norms, they stated that the decision to recognize the new state will rest with individual members. A number of European countries, such as Spain, Romania, Greece and Cyprus, have refused to recognize Kosovo. In many instances, the reason for this is a concern that a precedent may be set that will encourage separatist movements at home.

In an editorial, The Christian Science Monitor writes that Serbia’s aggression against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population in the 1990s, and the province’s deteriorating economic conditions, made an official declaration of independence unavoidable.

Similarly, The San Diego Union-Tribune points to the troubled relationship between Kosovar Albanians and Serbia as an argument in favor of the split. However, the paper warns that the move will push Serbia back into Russia’s sphere of influence and endanger its chances of EU membership.

Massive celebrations in Kosovo and abroad followed the Kosovan parliament’s declaration of independence on Sunday. “We have waited for this day for a very long time ... from today, we are proud, independent and free,” declared Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. The BBC has pictures and video from the festivities.

Rioting Serbs burned down two border outposts in Northern Kosovo. International troops were sent to quell the mobs. Serbs in the divided northern town of Mitrovica protested in the vicinity of UN and OSCE buildings on Monday.

President George W. Bush recognized Kosovo’s independence, saying the United States will soon establish full diplomatic relations with the new state. Britain, France, Germany and Italy have also recognized Kosovo. Serbia recalled its ambassadors to the United States and France.

Russia warned that Kosovo’s declaration jeopardizes East-West relations. In its meeting Tuesday, the UN Security Council failed to agree on a unified action regarding the province’s split from Serbia. Russia and China have both backed Serbia in protest of the move.

Balkan countries are holding off reactions to Kosovo’s independence in anticipation of further developments. Some fear Kosovo’s split from Serbia may rekindle the secessionist ambitions of Bosnia’s Serbs and Macedonia’s Albanians. Slovenia and Albanian are expected to be the first Balkan countries to support the new state.

In his letter to the president of the Security Council, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that he agreed with the recommendation made by the special envoy regarding Kosovo’s future status. He went on to say that Kosovo should gain independence as long as the country is supervised by the international community. Ban Ki-moon also stated that he agrees with “The Comprehensive Proposal for Kosovo Status Settlement,” which aims to “define the provisions necessary for a future Kosovo that is viable, sustainable and stable.”

In 1989, then leader of the Serbian Communist Party Slobodan Milosevic stripped Kosovo of its autonomy, sparking a crisis that spread across the rest of the former Yugoslavia and ended in its collapse.

Until 1992, when Croatia and Slovenia achieved independence, the Yugoslav Federation included Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. Serbia was divided into two provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina. In 1999, supported by Kosovar-Albanians, the Kosovo Liberation Army took up arms against Serbian rule. The conflict led to thousands of deaths and the ethnic cleansing of native Muslims ordered by Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. NATO responded by bombing Yugoslavia into submission. Kosovo remains a province of Serbia under the rule of the UN.

PBS provides a timeline for the Balkan wars, which goes back to 1987 and Slobodan Milosevic’s rise to power, and ends in September 1999 with the complete demilitarization of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians have a legitimate claim against Serbia, which tried to drive them away from their homes in the 1990s. The new state should live up to its promise to uphold minority rights if it hopes to overcome divisions over its status, The Christian Science Monitor writes.

The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the new state faces many challenges, including the stigma of a “frozen conflict” and over 65 percent unemployment. However, the current situation is preferable to “a regime of terror that reminded one of Nazi Germany,” the Tribune writes, referring to Serbia’s campaign to cleanse the province of its ethnic Albanian population in the 1990s. Kosovo’s unilateral act will push Serbia back into the arms of Russia, the paper warns.

In 2005, Georgetown University Professor Charles A. Kupchan wrote an article in Foreign Affairs arguing that “Kosovo's independence is the best hope for finally settling one of the most intractable feuds in the Balkans, defeating the remnants of extreme nationalism in Serbia, and laying the foundations for a Balkan politics that focuses on the opportunities of the future rather than the wrongs of the past.”

Richard C. Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the UN and negotiator of the Dayton Accords, which ended the Bosnian war, believes that Kosovo’s independence could result in violence unless the international community takes preventative steps. “We have two choices here: You send troops in beforehand, to prevent the violence, or you rush troops in after it breaks out and the social fabric has been further torn apart,” Holbrooke writes.